By Hanna Perry, Contributing Writer
With finals right around the corner, most students are looking for ways to unwind and relax during the holiday season, and find ways to use the new freetime.
The first thing that people enjoy during the month of December is spending time with their friends and family. Spending time with your family is a great thing to do, especially during your holiday break, because it is one of the one of the only times of year when your family members get days off work.
When it comes to visiting family members that live far away, one of the best traditions that many families have is a gift exchange. Family gift exchanges are important for many families because each family member is in charge of buying some type of gift for one another. To make this an even more fun tradition, people decide to turn it into a Secret Santa gift exchange. Secret Santa gift exchanges are fun for many families because family members never know who got them their gift until they open them during the gift exchange.
The second thing that people enjoy doing during the month of December is watching Christmas movies. Some of the best Christmas movies are classic Christmas films like “Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer,” “Frosty The Snowman,” “Santa Claus Is Coming To Town,” and “How The Grinch Stole Christmas.”
These films are just some of the films that people have watched for many years which is why they have become holiday classics. The best holiday movie channels to watch every Christmas season are Freeform, Hallmark, and Lifetime because all of these channels show some great Christmas films every year. On Freeform they have the “25 Days Of Christmas” which is when the channel shows Christmas movies from Dec. 1 until Dec. 25. Everyone has a favorite Christmas movie, so chances are that Freeform will be showing them on television at some point during December.
Some of my favorite Christmas films are “Snowglobe,” which was an ABC Family original movie and my favorite classic Christmas film is “A Charlie Brown Christmas.” Many people also love the Will Ferrell movie “Elf” because it is really hilarious.
The third thing that people love to do during the holidays is listen to Christmas music in the car.
From Christmas albums to Christmas radio stations, there is always Christmas music playing in most cars. Christmas music not only gets people into the holiday spirit, but it also helps people get into a better mood. Some of my favorite Christmas albums to listen to are the ones by Sia, Idina Menzel, Kelly Clarkson, Michael Bublé, Lauren Daigle, B.E. Taylor, and Mariah Carey.
The fourth thing that people love to do during the holiday season is baking Christmas cookies. Without cookies, Christmas would not be the same. Some of the most common cookies that people make during the holiday season are chocolate chip cookies and sugar cookies. Many kids love to help their moms or grandmas by decorating sugar cookies. The sugar cookies are normally shaped like Christmas symbols, like Christmas trees and snowmen. Kids enjoy decorating the cookies by putting red and green icing on them and then putting sprinkles on them. Without decorations on the cookies, they never seem to taste the same.
I remember one Christmas when I went to visit my grandmother and she let my sister and I help bake and decorate sugar cookies. To this day, it is still something that I remember fondly.
The fifth thing that people enjoy during the holidays is driving around in the car looking at Christmas lights. In the Ohio Valley, one of the most important holiday traditions for families is driving through the Festival of Lights at Oglebay. The Christmas lights at Oglebay are one of the most magical Christmas traditions because whenever children and adults see the lights they are always mesmerized by how beautiful they are.
Not only have the Christmas lights at Oglebay become an important holiday tradition, they have also helped people get into the holiday spirit. The Oglebay Festival Of Lights is one of the most important things in the Ohio Valley during the holiday season and without them, the Ohio Valley would not be the same.
Photo Credit: Hanna Perry
